Shaw was a pioneer in the field of computer programming languages, artificial intelligence, and the development of on-line, interactive, time-sharing computers. He worked for the RAND Corporation, 1950-1971, where he completed his most significant work. In the 1950s, he collaborated with Herbert Simon and Allen Newell on developing computer programs that attempted to simulate human decision-making.

Shaw wrote the programming language known as Information Processing Language (IPL) for the Chess program, Logic Theorist (LT), and General Problem Solver (GPS). In the early 1960s, as Newell and Simon continued their work on computer simulation of human behavior, Shaw's interests shifted toward developing an easy to use interactive, on-line computerprogram. By 1963, Shaw developed the JOHNNIAC Open-Shop System (JOSS). Throughout the 1960s, Shaw continued improving the efficiency and performance of JOSS, while working on other projects such as the RAND Tablet, systems architecture, and character recognition. Shaw left RAND in 1971 and did consulting work in the 1970s and 1980s.

Summary:

Reports, research notes, correspondence, memoranda, systems tests, coding sequences, and diagrams documenting Shaw's development of one of the earliest list processing languages (ILP) in the 1950s and an early interactive, on-line, time-sharing program, the JOHNNIAC Open-Shop System (JOSS) in the early 1960s; various technical reports from RAND 1950-1971, printed material profiling the RAND corporation and the evolution of the artifical intellgence and electronic computer industry in the 1950s and 1960s; and biographical material documenting Shaw's personal interests, friendships, family, and academic career.

Cite as:

John Clifford Shaw Papers, 1933-1993, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Doug Shaw